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Critical thinking
Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.
Empiricism
The idea that knowledge comes from experience, and that observations and experimentation enable scientific knowledge.
Structuralism
A psychological school of thought that studies the mind by breaking it down into its basic components. It assumes that complex mental experiences can be understood by analyzing their fundamental parts. Uses introspection to identify these elements and their relationships.
Introspection
The process of looking inward in an attempt to directly observe one’s own psychological processes.
Functionalism
A psychological approach that focuses on how mental processes help individuals adapt to their environment. Emphasizes the purpose of behavior and mental processes in fulfilling basic needs such as survival, reproduction, and social interaction - enabling the organism to adapt, survive, and thrive.
Behaviorism
A psychological approach that believes that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Focused on how we learn and observable behavior.
Humanistic psychology
Psychological perspective that focuses on the potential for personal growth. Focuses on uniquely human issues such as the self, hope, love, and being, becoming, and individuality.
Cognitive psychology
The study of mental processes such as perception, learning, memory retrieval, thinking, communication, and problem-solving.
Cognitive neuroscience
The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition.
Psychology
The science of behavior and mental processes.
Nature vs nurture debate
The debate over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.
Natural selection
The principle that inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will (when in competition with other trait variations) most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.
Structuralism
Fathered by Edward Titchener. One of the first psychological schools of thought that aimed to understand the structure of the mind through introspection. Faulted by an unreliable technique of introspection that required intelligent, verbal people and experience varied from person to person.
Functionalism
Fathered by William James, based on the works of Charles Darwin. One of the first psychological schools of thought that explored the functions of each structure of the mind — how they function and how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish. Focused on emotions, memories, habits, motivation, and consciousness.
Behaviorism
Fathered by John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner. Believed that psychology should focus on studying observable behavior rather than mental processes. Focused on how we learn and observable responses. Ex- How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? What is the most effective way to alter our behavior, for example, to lose weight?
Psychoanalytical
Fathered by Freud. Emphasized how the unconscious mind and childhood affect behavior.
Positive psych
Led by Martin Seligman. The scientific study of human flourishing with the goal of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive.
Biopsychosocial
An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural viewpoints to offer a more complete picture of any given behavior or mental process.
Psychodynamic
Evolved from psychoanalytical psychology, fathered by Freud, Alfred Alder, and Carl Jung. A branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders. Focuses on how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts. Ex- How can someone’s personality traits and disorders be explained by unfulfilled wishes and childhood traumas? Unconscious sexual and aggressive desires create unknown conflicts and drive our behavior
Humanistic
Led by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Rather than focusing on conditioned responses or childhood memories, humanistic psychology focuses on the potential for personal growth. Focuses on uniquely human issues such as the self, hope, love, and being, becoming, and individuality. Ex- How can we work toward fulfilling our potential? How can we overcome barriers to our personal growth? It’s hopeful that we can improve, humans can get better and achieve their full potential.
Cognitive psych
Fathered by Paiget, Noam Chomsky, Albert Ellis, and Ulric Neisser. The study of mental processes such as when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and solve problems – and how mental processes interact with mental illness and disorders. Ex- How do we use information in remembering? Reasoning? Solving problems?
Evolutionary psych
Founded on the works of Charles Darwin. Focuses on the evolution of behavior and the mind using principles of natural selection. Nature vs nurture. How the natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes. It aims to explain why humans are the way they are and looks at adaptive benefits to explain human behavior. Ex- How does evolution influence behavior tendencies? States that our behavior is the result of thousands of years of adaptation and survival of the fittest.
Behavioral
Fathered by Pavlov, John Watson, Thorndike, B.F. Skinner, and Albert Bandura. Behaviorism states that behavior is learned and is a result of reinforcements, punishments, and observations. Concerned with learning from the environment and focuses on classical and operant conditioning.
Socio-cultural
Fathered by Albert Bandura, Stanley Milgram, and Philip Zimbardo. A branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders. Focuses on how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures. Ex- How are we affected by the people around us, and by our surrounding culture? Studies peoples’ impact on you and you on them, how other people impact your behavior and mental processes, and group behavior and dynamics.
Biological
Fathered by Paul Broca, Carl Wernicke, and Phineas Gagge. The scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes. How the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences. How our genes and our environment influence our individual differences. Ex- How do pain messages travel to the hands? How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives? Behavior is a result of the wiring, structures, and chemicals in our brains and the hormones in our blood.
Psychometrics
The scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits — aims to describe and explain behavior and the mind underlying it.
Basic Research
Pure scientific research that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.
Applied Research
The scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.
Developmental psychology
A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.
Educational psychology
The study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning.
Personality psychology
The study of individuals’ characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting.
Social psychology
The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.
Industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology
The application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in the workplace.
Human factors psychology
A field of psychology allied with I/O psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines na physical environments can be made safe and easy to use.
Counseling psychology
A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being.
Clinical psychology
A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders.
Psychiatry
A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who are licensed to provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy.
Community psychology
A branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups.
Wilhelm Wundt
A German structuralist psychologist and the founding father of modern psychology and experimental psychology. Established the first psych laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany that separated psychology from philosophy and biology.
G. Stanley Hall
An American psychologist known for establishing the first American psychology research lab at John Hopkins University in 1883. Published the first professional journal in psychology in 1887, the American Journal of Psychology. Founded the APA in 1892 and was the first president. Focuses on childhood development and evolutionary theory.
Edward Bradford Titchener
An English psychologist and father of Structuralism. He aimed to understand the structure of the mind through self-reflective introspection. He had his clients use introspection while looking, tasting, smelling, and feeling different things and asking them what their immediate sensations, thoughts, and feelings were and how they related to one another
William James
An American functionalist psychologist known as the founder of American psychology. Wrote the first psychology textbook in 1890 “Principles of Psychology” and developed the pragmatic theory of truth that stated that it’s impossible to prove an idea’s truth and therefore it should be evaluated on it’s usefulness.
Mary Whiton Calkins
An American psychologist and pioneer in memory research, the first women president of the APA. focuses on dream, memory, and personality research.
Margaret Floy Washburn
An American psychologist known for experimental work in animal behavior and motor theory development. The first woman to ever receive a psych Ph.D. Synthesized animal behavior research in The Animal Mind in 1908, a book on experimental work in animal cognition. The second female resident of the APA.
John B. Watson
American psychologist known as the father of behaviorism. Explored the ideas of how behaviorism affected how children are raised best, advertising strategies, and animal behavior. Famous for his Little Albert study that proved that fear can be learned.
B.F. Skinner
American psychologist and father of radical behaviorism. Developed theories of operant conditioning (behavior depends more on what happens after a response rather than what happens before it) and negative reinforcement. Most known for his Skinner puzzle boxes studying operant conditioning in animal behavior.
Sigmund Freud
An Austrian psychologist known as the father of psychoanalysis and famous for his studies in personality and dream analysis. A highly controversial innovator in psychology that believed that behaviors are largely influenced by the unconscious and childhood and psychological issues can be traced back to sexual development. Id, ego, and superego.
Abraham Maslow
American psychologist most known for developing the hierarchy of needs.
Dorothea Dix
An American psychologist and pioneer of humane therapeutic treatment of those with psychological disorders.
Ivan Pavlov
A Russian psychologist and early founder of classical conditioning that developed the concept of conditioned reflex. Famous for his “Pavlov’s dogs” experiment.
Hindsight bias
“I knew it all along” phenomenon. The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it.
Theory
An explanation of using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events.
Hypothesis
A testable prediction, often implied by a theory.
Operational definitions
a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations) used in a research study. For example, human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures.
Replication
Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced.
Sampling bias
A flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample.
Population
All those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn.
Random sample
A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.
Representative sample
A sample that has the same distribution of demographic qualities in it as the population as a whole.
Correlation
A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.
Correlation coefficient
A statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1.00 to +1.00)
Variable
Anything that can vary and is feasible and ethical to measure
Scatterplot
A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlations).
Illusionary correlation
Perceiving a relationship where none exists, or perceiving a stronger-than-actual relationship.
Regression toward the mean
The tendency for extreme or unusual scores or events to fall back (regress) toward the average.
Experiment
A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables (IV)) to observe the effects on some behavior or mental process (dependent variable (DV)). Bu random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors.
Experimental group
In an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable.
Control group
In an experiment, the group not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.
Random assignment
Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between the different groups.
Double-blind procedure
An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies.
Placebo effect
Experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent.
Independent variable
In an experiment, the factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.
Confounding variable
A factor other than the factor being studies that might influence a study’s results.
Dependent variable
In an experiment, the outcome that is measured; the variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated
Validity
The extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to.
Informed consent
Giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate.
Debriefing
The post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants.
Descriptive statistics
Numerical data used to measure and describe the characteristics of groups. Includes measure of central tendency and measure of variation.
Histogram
A bar graph depicting a frequency distribution.
Skewed distribution
A representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value.
Normal curve/distribution
A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean (about 68 percent fall within one standard deviation of it) and fewer and fewer near the extremes.
Inferential statistics
Numerical data that allows one to generalize — to infer from sample data the probability of something being true of a population
Descriptive methods
Describe behaviors, often by using case studies, surveys, or naturalistic observations. The main purpose is to observe and record behavior without manipulation. Weakness- No control of variables, single cases may be misleading
Correlational methods
Associate different variables. The main purpose is to collect data on two or more variables with no manipulation and detects naturally occurring relationships or how well one variable predicts another. Weakness- Cannot specify the cause and effect
Experimental methods
Manipulate independent variables to discover their effects to explore cause and effect. Weakness- Sometimes not feasible, results may not generalize to other contexts, and it’s not ethical to manipulate certain variables.
Independent variable (IV)
The variable in an experiment that is being manipulated and whose effect is being studied.
Confounding variable (CV)
The factors other than the factor being studies that might influence a study’s results like age, intelligence, height, etc. Random assignment is used to control the influence.
Dependent variable (DV)
The effect of one or more independent variables on some measurable behavior. Can vary depending on what takes place during the experiment.
Mode
(most, mo) The simplest measure. The most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution.
Mean
(meanest, requires math) The most familiar, arithmetic average distribution. The total sum of all the scores divided by the number of scores.
Median
(middle, d) The midpoint, 50th percentile. The middle score in a distribution.
Case studies
An in-depth analysis of individuals or groups in the hope of revealing universal principles. Provides a large amount of qualitative data but individual cases can suggest atypical ideas and mislead us. (Ex- brain damage, children’s minds, and animal intelligence.)
Naturalistic observations
A technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without manipulating or controlling any variables. Doesn’t explain behavior but describes it, but such observations paved the way for later studies. Independent variables cannot be isolated, and observations are prone to subjectivity. (Ex- Jane Goodall and chimpanzee behavior + social media data collection)
Survey
A technique for obtaining self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group. Prone to wording effects and sampling bias — to generalize from a few vivid by unrepresentative cases.
Behavior genetics
The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.
Culture
The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.
Testing effect
An effect of enhanced learning after retrieving information, rather than simply rereading.
SQ3R
A study method where you first survey, then question, read, then retrieve, and review.
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